Slam Jam

FOUNDED BY LUCA BENINI IN FERRARA IN 1989, SLAM JAM IS A STREETWEAR CLOTHING COMPANY, FOLLOWING ITS EVOLUTION ALSO THROUGH VARIOUS PARALLEL AND MORE SOPHISTICATED PATHS, FREQUENTLY VENTURING BEYOND MARKET AND INTO THE FIELDS OF ART. THERE WERE LOTS OF INTERSECTING TRAILS BACK IN THE 80S, WHEN IT ALL BEGAN. YOUTH SUBCULTURES STARTED CONTAMINATING FASHION, SOAKING IT WITH THE RAW AND FLAMMABLE MATERIALS THAT CAME FROM REAL LIFE IN A WORLD THAT WAS RADICALLY CHANGING.

SLAM JAM’S ATYPICAL AND UNIQUE IDENTITY WAS ESTABLISHED FOLLOWING SEVERAL OF THESE TRAILS, LEADING TO AND PASSING BY A MULTITUDE OF MILIEUS, BUT MAINLY HIP HOP, SKATE AND CLUB CULTURE SCENES.

THANKS TO ITS RATHER UNOBVIOUS CORE VALUES, SLAM JAM EASILY BECAME A BEACON OF STYLE, SPREADING A VERY UNUSUAL MIX OF GENRES IN THE EUROPEAN LANDSCAPE: DISTRIBUTING BRANDS SUCH AS CARHARTT, STUSSY AND INTRODUCING THE THEN REMOTE AND MYSTERIOUS JAPANESE URBAN WEAR.

BUT THESE PATHS WERE ALL TOO STRAIGHTFORWARD, FOR A MULTI-FACETED REALITY SUCH AS SLAM JAM. BEING AWARE OF THE RUGGED BACKCOUNTRY CONNECTIONS BETWEEN STREET ART AND STREET STYLE, OVER THE YEARS SLAM JAM HIT A LOT OF BLACK GRADED TRAILS – DEEP DELVING INTO THE KINGDOM OF ARTS – STRANGE PATHS, DIFFICULT TO GO, BUT ABSOLUTELY REWARDING.

AS A RESULT OF THOSE LONG RANGE EXPLORATIONS CAME THE COLLABORATIONS WITH ARTISTS SUCH AS PUSHEAD, PHIL FROST AND TANINO LIBERATORE FOR SLAM TRICK (THE MAIN ITALIAN SKATEBOARDING EVENT), AND THE NUMEROUS EXHIBITIONS AND EVENTS WHERE RENOWN ARTISTS, MUSICIANS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS HAVE DISPLAYED THEIR WORK.

MAYBE THE HARDEST AND MORE VALUABLE “BLACK DIAMOND” IS THE ONE THAT LED TO HQ37A, SLAM JAM’S HEADQUARTERS DESIGNED BY DIENER & DIENER ARCHITECTS, INAUGURATED IN 2007.